Monthly mingles, subsidised gym memberships, free onsite yoga and mindfulness classes, onsite subsidised childcare, corporate philanthropy…where do we sign up? In a Recruitment Marketing Magazine exclusive we spoke with Stephanie Ryan, Social Community Administrator for Liberty Financial about how their benefits and wellness events build their culture.
Health and wellbeing initiatives, social events, and a tenacious dedication to their people are built into Liberty Financial’s cultural fabric. Liberty Financial’s people help them achieve their vision of helping as many people as possible get financial through offering home, commercial, personal and car loans, as well as insurance. Social Community Administrator for Liberty Financial, Stephanie Ryan gave us a peak behind the curtain about the ways they invest in their people to accomplish this inspiring goal.
“We’re a business of approximately 400 employees across Australia and New Zealand,” said Ryan. “Our size enables us to have a really close-knit, inclusive culture. Our people are everything. We run these initiatives and programs, and offer staff benefits to help keep our people happy and healthy and to attract the best people to join us! We try to offer something for everyone. It’s a really great environment to work in.”
Liberty Financial’s social committee arranges monthly social events and Ryan explains these events are a valuable way to provide their people with avenues to interact outside of work and strengthen relationships.
“It’s important to have these events. We have a very social culture. Everyone is invited to come along and get to know people across the business. We organise ‘monthly mingles’ (such as comedy nights and moonlight cinema shows), two big annual parties and two annual family and friends ‘fun days’. We also celebrate many other cultural days throughout the year, such as International Women’s Day, Movember and Pride month.”
In addition to investing in social events, Liberty Financial also offers a wide range of health and wellness initiatives, which Ryan coordinates. They run monthly health initiatives (such as onsite health assessments, vaccinations, skin checks), participate in the corporate triathlon and corporate games, offer their people subsidised gym memberships, and yoga and mindfulness programs (including a reflection room for employees to relax and destress so they can perform their best!). They even offer an onsite school holiday program for employees’ children through KidsCo.
In particular, their Tour de Office health and charitable initiative was a huge success. The week-long in-house cycling event allows employees to cycle in half-hour sessions throughout the working day and raise money for their charity of choice.
“Health and wellbeing benefits are embedded in our culture, so Tour de Office is just another fun event that ties into it!”
“We signed up for a two-bike package, as we found this was a better way to engage our people so they could ride with a friend. This package included a full-time fitness coach, Sam Pendergast, who is a cyclist himself. He was amazing – engaging our people by encouraging and motivating them and making the event run smoothly.”
Liberty Financial set up their bikes with a wall-length backdrop, replicating the scenery of Tour de France. They also set up the Tour de Office streaming so that people could watch their mates compete.
“Everyone who walked past said ‘wow!’. It was exciting. Some people dressed up for their rides. It was so much fun and created a lot of buzz and healthy competition in the office. Everyone loved that you could set your own pace, get in some exercise and raise money for an amazing cause. We raised $7900 for the Beacon Foundation and were awarded Highest Corporate Fundraiser! So many people got involved and we’re looking forward to participating in the event for Beacon again this year.”
Liberty Financial believes in the value of corporate philanthropy and charitable giving. The Liberty Lend-A-Hand program offers financial and volunteer support to children’s charities; The Mirabel Foundation, The Beacon Foundation and AARDVARK.
“We support our various charities in different ways. We run regular work experience programs with Beacon Foundation, allowing young people to come into the office and rotate through different departments to get a feel for our company and what it’s like to work here.”
“The Mirabel Foundation has annual events that we volunteer for. For example, they throw a big Christmas party, and our people can volunteer to participate and meet the children. AARDVARK runs a songwriting program for young people who love music. They play their own instruments in a band, and for our end of year party, we invite them to perform. It’s a great experience to see them playing their music.”
“Personally, I love all the things we do here. I really value health, so to have all these initiatives on our doorstep, it helps me keep my health and fitness goals in check. I’m sure our initiatives are a drawcard for top talent.”
What initiatives and benefits do you offer your people? Share a comment below.
For more information about how Tour de Office can boost your employee engagement and culture, visit their website.